This invention relates to relatively small marine craft and an associated method whereby the craft may be inverted from a capsized position to an upright position by the crew.
A serious problem in the handling of small marine craft resides in the virtual impossibility of the crew to right the craft once it has been capsized. This problem is of particular concern in connection with sailboats that are more susceptible to capsizing because of their dependence on wind for propulsion and the relatively low draft of the hull construction. The use of multi-hull construction has been proposed in order to improve the stability of the sailboat in an effort to minimize the capsizing problem. Multi-hull sailboats such as catamarans provide, however, a false sense of security in regard to the capsizing problem. The righting of a capsized craft of the catamaran type is expressly dealt with in U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,061 to Newman. The righting method disclosed in the Newman patent involves lateral displacement of the craft about its longitudinal axis. Further, the righting method as disclosed in the Newman patent is limited to a multi-hull boat that is only partially capsized and requires a pivoted mounting for the mast and a special cable system associated therewith.
It is, therefore, an important object of the present invention to provide a self rescuing system for marine craft whereby the crew may, without assistance, invert the craft to its upright position so that the craft may get underway after being capsized as a result of a storm or the like.